NAYSS News - APRIL 2007
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IN THIS EDITION...
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> From the Lead Provider
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> NAYSS in Darwin (Melaleuca Refugee Centre)
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> NAYSS in Brisbane South/West (Salisbury, QLD)
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> NAYSS in Shepperton and Cobram (Uniting Care-Cutting Edge)
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> NAYSS Case Study 1: Emergency Accommodation for CLD clients
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From the Lead Provider
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Welcome to the April edition of NAYSS News! Our apologies for the fact that we are running a bit late with this edition but we hope to be back on track for May.
The April edition contains three different but comprehensive articles from three different NAYSS providers along with some news about our representative on the Action Research Committee from FaCSIA.
Melaleuca tell us about their action research into relations between Newly Arrived and Indigenous young people. Career Employment Australia describe how they support Newly Arrived young people to navigate the world of work. The CEA team also challenge us to use this newsletter to raise the burning issues and share ideas on solutions/good practice - watch this space. And Uniting Care - Cutting Edge share a detailed and reflective case study, including an action research analysis!
Thanks once again to all our contributors and don't forget if you see anything interesting - a good resource, some new research, anything that might be useful to your fellow NAYSSers let us know so we can include it in NAYSS News.
REMINDER: The NAYSS Teleconference will be held next Wednesday (9th) at 2pm. As you know the focus of our discussion will be workload so we look forward to hearing from each of you. The Lead Provider will also feed back the results of our brief survey on this issue, so don't forget to respond if you haven't done so already.
In the meantime, remember to take care of yourselves as workers amongst the challenges of NAYSS work and to feel free to be in touch with us at any time.
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nayss@cmyi.net.au.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Leigh and Nadia
NAYSS Lead Provider Team
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NAYSS in Darwin (Melaleuca Refugee Centre)
| General Update
| In February, Melaleuca Refugee Centre employed a male youth worker to work within the NAYSS program. He’s working 2 days/week and we’re happy to have him on board. Jamie will be working with young men and will hopefully be running a young men’s group later this year with another male worker at Melaleuca.
We continue to receive referrals from a variety of sources with self-referral common. Clients accessing individual support range in ethnicity, although at this point all are from African and refugee backgrounds. The issues being presented also vary, with counseling on trauma issues being a key focus all clients having the opportunity to access this.
In January of this year, NAYSS funded and facilitated a Water Safety Course, taught by the Royal Lifesaving Society. We targetted newly arrived families (<1year) with children 10-16. The program had 37 participants over the four day course and all the young people were awarded Water Safety Certificates. In collaboration with the child-focussed worker and our community development team, NAYSS will be helping organise another Water Safety Course for parents with their children (>5yrs) old in May. Young parents will have priority for the course.
| Working in Schools
| Starting mid-way through this term (late February), I have been working ½ day/week at Darwin High School, which houses the Senior Intensive English Unit. All refugee students attend this specialized unit, located at the largest high school in Darwin, when they first arrive. My role there has been to provide secondary consultation to teachers, start a young women’s group, and to work with the Dukes of Edinburgh program. The young women’s group will be a 9 session program focusing on transitions in culture, roles, and relationships. The program will start next Term (mid-April). The Dukes of Edinburgh has successfully gained a grant to work with young people in the unit on team building and leadership skills. The NAYSS program is working to provide emotional support and counseling. We are also providing training for Dukes workers who do not have experience working with refugees.
| Capacity Building
| Late April and early May will see our second free training/ professional development opportunity for the youth sector running in collaboration with Melaleuca’s education and training program. We hope to run the training 3x year with open registrations for volunteers and youth sector workers. For this training we have already accepted registrations from Centrelink Social Workers, NT Police Ethnic Liaison officers, SAAP programs, teachers, and youth health program workers.
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Action Research
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Action Research projects are alive and well! We have two projects running concurrently. The first is about access and opportunity in the youth program. We are collecting information from clients about how they would like to access the program and what venue would be the best for a youth program. We do this as we see clients in the first few sessions. We are also asking staff at Melaleuca and other stakeholder organizations what they would see as the best access to the program. Most of our feedback at this point has been about a better venue and more space to “do things.” I will be collating the information and finalizing a report within the next month.
The second project is much larger and less tangible. We are asking what would it take to improve the relationship between young African people and young Indigenous people in the Darwin areas. This has many prongs and what I first found was that I needed to start with a different question. The first question therefore became: What would it take to find out what young people from African and Indigenous backgrounds thought the problems were with each other respectively? This began a five session youth consultation targeting young people from a variety of backgrounds and specific suburbs. The project was collaborative with equal input from Mission Australia’s youth program, The Red Cross youth programs, NT Police Crime Prevention Office, The Multicultural Centre NT and later, Danila Dilba Youth Program (an indigenous youth service). The results of these consultations are still being finalized and will hopefully be finished within the next six weeks. Evaluations are now being undertaken with young people.
Another prong of this project is surveying the attitudes towards Indigenous people from adults in the community. This is being done via bi-cultural facilitators at our FICT programs.
I am also establishing a “control” group in Palmerston, which is an area just outside of Darwin where currently young people have very little interaction with young refugees. I will do a consultation with Danila Dilba youth service on the feelings and attitudes of young Indigenous people in this area and then provide some education about refugee issues to see if their ideas or attitudes change.
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Future Plans
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NAYSS has also applied for a grant in conjunction with Brown’s Mart Community Arts to run a music production program with young people from Indigenous and African backgrounds. We’ve engaged Shellie Morris, an Indigenous musician and a newly arrived Liberian young man to facilitate the workshops, which we envisage being 8 after school sessions. This program is dependent on funding approval.
We have also been in touch with the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) to provide youth training for the teachers there with a specific focus on education outcomes. We’ll also be inviting career counselors and student counselors from the university to attend, as the AMEP is located within Charles Darwin University. We have identified this area to help reinforce education opportunities across the university.
As the beginning of this year saw many issues with transitions from Intensive English Units to mainstream school campus’ NAYSS will be targeting these areas to set up transition programs for students transferring to mainstream schools towards the end of Term 2/Semester 2.
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National Networking
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NAYSS is also participating in the National Multicultural Youth Issues Network (NMYIN) as the NT representative. I’ll be attending a Face to Face meeting in April before the big youth affairs conference in Melbourne. We’re looking to set up a state rep group for the NT to assist with the ARACY research.
That’s about it from us! Cheers
Savannah
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NAYSS in Brisbane South/West (Salisbury, QLD)
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Hello to everybody from the NAYSS Brisbane South/West service here at Salisbury in Queensland.
For this newsletter we would like to focus our attention on the principles and practices in relation to supporting various stakeholders with their varying agendas, namely Centrelink, Department of Communities, Department of Child Safety and schools to name a few, around focusing and supporting theirs and now our clients into the World of Work.
For the Newly Arrived Young person this concept can bring both horror/fear and joy. With the various types of relationships built with first-to-know agencies, varying strategies need to be applied when firstly considering the legal obligations upon which the person must participate, the personal expectations of the referrer, before the young person even gets to consider the requirements/ responsibilities of any potential education/training program. Awareness and consideration of all these aspects must be considered and aligned with the young person's wishes/choices.
Our introduction to mapping the various training/educational courses around the Southwest corridor is achieved via a visual process (with the young person's input) at the centre. Our NAYSS program focuses on both the emotional and physical supports being made available for the young person.
One advantage we have is our onsite facilities for entry-level training. Therefore daily support activities can be implemented alongside a young person taking these formative steps. For any young person that decides to make a change in their lives our support is essential. Often this first step is to have a goal of being part of the wider community. Thus many young people realize that either training or education is an important stepping-stone. However the personal and social barriers are many and to be able to offer daily general support for our clients has been demonstrated to be a crucial factor.
Support sessions can be both formal and informal, depending on the situation in which the young person finds themselves at any specific point in time.
Since we can offer a training course on site, our young people have a constant ongoing relationship with their support worker. Trust building is a key stepping stone in this relationship but also in the transition towards independence. Having the same people around for several weeks gives both belonging and security for many newly arrived young people. Hope for the future and a sense of belonging within the broader Australian society are essential for thriving integration of any young person.
I would like to ask other NAYSS providers whether they feel that this e-mail newsletter might be a good forum to start really highlighting the service/community issues we are facing. Some services may have already faced these issues and could offer some practice advice, strategies or processes that have worked in their community. What do you all think?
So to start that process off here are the issues that our community is trying to deal with, with limited resources.
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NAYSS – COMMUNITY ISSUES
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- Significant increase in homelessness within some local Newly Arrived communities
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- Increased child protection issues within some of our local Newly Arrived communities
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- Overburdening of the psycho-social needs of students within high school communities particularly with ESL units. These needs overshadow and at times overtake the learning environment
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- High Schools with no ESL departments identifying huge needs due to increased numbers of newly arrived students entering their schools this current year. No increased funding, no professional development or prior training for teachers.
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- Conflict/violence within the broader Australian community
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- Newly arrived families having different expectations of their role in the education process for their children – it doesn’t stop with the school teacher.
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- Needs and expectations of families from schools: for breakfast, uniforms, books for their children and the pressure this puts on the school.
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- Students being hungry - families not able to provide enough food for three meals a day.
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Till the next time we communicate ... I hope you can find the time to share best practise with the NAYSS services so we can all be as culturally appropriate and responsive to our clients' needs as possible.
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Jillan Covey, Shiamala Subramaniam, Carina Aloni, John Pouk.
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NAYSS in Shepperton and Cobram (Uniting Care-Cutting Edge)
| We have been very busy expanding our communication and networks with young CLD people in both the Shepparton and Cobram Communities with the organizing of many group activities along with the 1to1 client work.
| Learning to Drive
| - It was identified in the January school holiday program in Shepparton that many CLD young people were wanting to get their learners driving license. I set out to put together a practical program that would give these young people the opportunity to go through the manual, to enable a more comprehensive understanding of the road rules and what was required to be able to drive in Australia. After studying the manual myself I saw it most practical to break the book into 6 – 1.5hr sessions that could be run after school. With the aim that on the final session the participants would be able to attempt the trial tests on the internet.
| - On completion of the program assistance will be offered to participants to book for the test, arrange interpreters if needed along with further assistance for those who may not be quite ready to sit the test.
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- We had 4 boys come to the boys program and 4 girls who chose to have their program run over 2 days in the school holidays.
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- The plan is to now offer this program to the CLD young people in Cobram and run another program in Shepparton later in the year.
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Home Work support:
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- In the latter part of term 1 we commenced assisting with the home work support program in Cobram. This is run in conjunction with the Uniting Care Cutting Edge DIAC Settlement Support work. Response to this program has been slow however we are very optimistic that in term 2 there will be more young people attending these weekly sessions
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- The same program is set to start in Shepparton on the 9th of May it too will be run 1 afternoon a week for the duration of the term.
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Shine Festival
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- Our NAYSS team assisted in the planning and running of a Cultural Tent at the recently held Shine Festival with UCCE Office for Youth Staff in Shepparton held on the 17th March. The day was a great success with many different cultures represented in the tent.
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Building Bridges in Cobram
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- We have been working closely with Moira Shire on their Building bridges Project planning several shops, drumming, hip hop and short film. These workshops were carried out in the last school holidays. Response was not as we had hoped but as I am sure you’re all aware it is one step at a time and sometimes it is baby steps!
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Cultural Celebration day in Cobram
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- In 2006 we offered support to the Cobram Secondary College in the planning and running of their Cultural Celebration Day. We have had discussions with the team for this year and are looking at assisting in the same capacity as last year. We expect that the day will be a lot of fun.
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In the near future:
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- We will be running a Leadership program in late May and early June for young CLD males in Shepparton, I look forward to filling you in on this later.
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- In the drawing room is also a strengths based program that will support newly arrived young people to explore their personal identity, how this impacts on their arrival to a new country and what strengths they have that they would like to develop further to assist them in this transition. We'll keep you posted of the progress and all being well we will be running this program in the latter part of the year.
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Alison and Sam
NAYSS Shepparton and Cobram Vic
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Case Study 1: the need for cultural understanding when seeking emergency accommodation for CLD clients
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Author: Alison Harris (NAYSS Senior Youth and Family Worker)
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Although the following Case Study had many areas that needed to be addressed, and have subsequently been addressed, I have focused on only one aspect in particular. This Case Study demonstrates the need for cultural understanding when seeking emergency accommodation for CLD clients.
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Family Genogram:
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Tony and Eric are 2 young boys referred to the agency for urgent assistance as they were homeless and in need of accommodation. At the first meeting with Tony, Eric and their mother (Amy) it became quite evident that it would be a challenging case.
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A brief history:
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Tony and Eric migrated to Australia 4 months ago with their family, as set out in the genogram. There was some innuendo (it was not clearly articulated and exploration was avoided by clients) that Amy was a victim of domestic violence and it was noted that Amy’s husband, Paul, was not living with them. Amy holds strong values about her marriage and indicated that she wanted Paul to come home.
It has been officially documented in Australia that Paul is Tony and Eric’s father, however, it has been inferred (without clear articulation) that this is not the case. After initially leaving Amy, Paul had apparently agreed to move back to the family home but he made a condition of return that Tony and Eric not live there.
Tony was unemployed and Eric was attending English classes at the local Intensive English Centre. Both the boys had limited to no English.
It was clear that Amy wanted to play a major role in the decision making for her young boys (to the point of control resulting in the restriction of their individual independence) despite them being aged 18 and 21 and legally adults.
This is a common challenge when working cross-culturally - balancing the family's cultural understandings of 'independence' with those of the broader Australian community/service sector.
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Original areas needing to be addressed:
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1. The main issue was homelessness and the need for accommodation.
2. Attending to the homeless issue whilst addressing cultural needs. The biggest concern at this time was the preparation of food as most shelters/emergency accommodation had communal food preparation areas and expectations. (The mother was very resistant to her sons having to cook in a kitchen where non-halal meals were prepared).
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Presenting Barriers were:
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1. In regional/rural Victoria there is very limited emergency accommodation.
2. There are no accommodation facilities in the region that cater for people who may have limited English and specific religious and/or cultural needs.
3. To converse with these young men and their mother, an interpreter was required, making the process of phone calls and appointments more complex as the coordination of an interpreter was required first.
4. The boys respect of and reliance on their mother and her demands often caused conflict and delayed possible outcomes.
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Workers response:
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Taking a holistic look at this situation it was evident that there were 3 key areas that needed to be attended to;
1. Securing accommodation
2. Building Trust /Rapport
3. Strengthening the boys’ ability to make decisions and in doing this empowering the mother to allow her son’s to become more independent.
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Crisis accommodation was sought and secured at a local Youth and Family Service. There were many guidelines and rules that needed to be understood and adhered to and there was a great deal of negotiating required around
1/ finding a suitable arrangement for the storing and preparation of halal food, and
2/ the Service’s acceptance of Tony, as he exceeded their normal age limit of 18 years of age. We were able to negotiate some compromises and the following outcomes:
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- A refrigerator and microwave to be kept in the boys’ individual accommodation.
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- Due to the vulnerability of both the boys it was agreed that they could be accommodated under crisis accommodation but that alternative accommodation must be sought as soon as possible.
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- That the accommodation arrangement would be reviewed in 2 weekly intervals.
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For the first 2 weeks the crisis accommodation arrangement worked well. Over this time the NAYSS worker was seeking private rental properties as well as arranging for applications to be submitted with Rural Housing (a local transitional housing provider).
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There were a number of challenges re securing private rental, including:
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- That the boys were on limited income and had no previous rental history or referees.
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- Few properties were available within the price range and the boy’s mother had unrealistic expectations of the quality of accommodation available for the price range.
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- That often landlords would not accept the applications once they established that the prospective tenants were Muslim. This, of course, was never formally stated but inferred.
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As time went on, the temporary accommodation began to expose the boys to situations and behaviours that they had not previously experienced. They began to adopt and mimic inappropriate behaviours – Like ‘kids in a candy shop’ they overly embraced their new personal freedoms and in doing so, overstepped the boundaries of acceptable behaviour, thereby compromising their accommodation. It became evident that the refuge was not well equipped to attend to such complex and diverse cultural needs and challenges.
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Management of this situation was carried out as follows:
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- NAYSS worker provided support to the refuge staff by assisting them with strategies to understand the boys' cultural context and needs and to access interpreters, when required.
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- Regular meetings were held to explore the challenges and to brainstorm appropriate responses to the boys needs.
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- Activities, away from the refuge, were coordinated, particularly for Eric.
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- Employment opportunities were sought for Tony.
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Transitional housing was secured through Rural Housing after the NAYSS worker advocated for priority placement, on the basis of the escalating issues at the refuge, resulting from the cultural differences the boys were being exposed to.
After 6 weeks at the refuge the boys were housed in a unit that would guarantee accommodation for a minimum of 3 months, thereby providing the NAYSS worker with more time to work with the boys to secure long term private housing.
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Review of outcomes to this time
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1. The obvious positive outcome was that accommodation was secured. As illustrated in this study it was achieved through many hours of consultation, negotiation and advocacy on the boys’ behalf.
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2. Trust and rapport. Over the duration of the support provided, the boys’ increasingly made proactive contact with the NAYSS worker, requesting assistance and advocacy on a number of occasions. This was a clear demonstration of their growing trust in the worker and the support available. Additionally, Amy too became more comfortable and accepting of the NAYSS worker - She still wanted to have input into the boys situation but she trusted the judgment and recommendations of the worker. Positive rapport was also built with other services and organisations throughout this process, which resulted in positive feedback about the NAYSS worker being passed onto agency management.
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3. Developing the boys’ ability to make decisions. This became evident when the boys began making regular contact with the worker when they sought advice and assistance.
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Looking at this case from an AR perspective:
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The Action Research Question: What were the challenges that impacted case management and the outcomes for the client(s)?
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Observations –
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1. Support Services not prepared for clients from diverse cultural backgrounds. Did not know how to access interpreter, did not know if they were entitled to free interpreting services, confronted by the language barrier and found it difficult to communicate with the clients.
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2. Case work was more complex and took significantly longer (about double the time) than general case work for non-CLD clients.
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Reflections –
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1. Local NAYSS provider could continue to explore how to best equip generalist support services to effectively support CLD young people:
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- a. Training and the provision of relevant information regarding cultural and religious beliefs/ needs of CLD young people.
- b. Taking time to brainstorm and explore the possible barriers and problems that could arise when providing accommodation for newly arrived young people into mainstream accommodation.
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Despite the challenges, this has been a positive and strengthening process for the NAYSS worker and supporting agencies as they have worked well together to provide quality service and outcomes for the client(s).
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2. Ensure that the NAYSS client case load is appropriate to the time availability of the worker. Inform all stakeholders (services) when working in collaboration that it often takes more time to deliver effective support due to the need for interpreter and the importance of sensitive trust and rapport building because of the often traumatic journey clients have experienced.
Time management has been challenging for the NAYSS worker and there is a need for the worker to continue to explore more efficient time management practices, although not at the expense of taking time with clients (even for the smallest of requests or enquires) as this strengthens trust and rapport. Case worker needs to have a balance between their client commitments and other commitments such as community development, program development, administration and Action Research.
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Planning for the future –
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1. UnitingCare – Cutting Edge CLD Program Manager to continue liaising with CMYI re the delivery of training for local service providers re how to effectively support CLD young people.
2. UnitingCare – Cutting Edge CLD Program Team and CLD Youth Strategic Alliance (which acts as the NAYSS Reference Group) to brainstorm and identify appropriate means of providing local service providers with information and tools to enable them to more effectively engage and support CLD young people.
3. NAYSS worker and CLD Program Manager to identify the best allocation of worker time and commitments to ensure that client work has sufficient time allocation. By doing this we will ensure that best practice and positive outcomes are achieved.
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